TV Quick Thoughts: 2nd Episodes from Hellcats, Nikita & Covert Affairs' Season Finale

Second episode down and I've decided it's pointless to pursue watching Hellcats. I just don't get it. This officially seals it then --- I'm old and uncool. Or Hellcats is really what it is --- contrived and shallow, with every character annoying me.

On the other hand, Nikita's second episode improves with better storytelling. Alex getting activated very early into her training was a bonus. Like I said in a previous entry, this show is as much about Alex as it is about Nikita. Although I get the feeling that while they are allies for now, Alex will become Nikita's nemesis later on. And what an awesome conflict that will bring!

Nikita's 2nd Episode is action-packed with a solid storyline.

Covert Affairs' short summer run ends with a cliffhanger. Ben Mercer comes forward to the CIA and is sent on a mission. He unfortunately is shot at the end of the episode, and it will be another few months before we know whether he lives or not.

Annie Walker and Ben Mercer on Covert Affairs

The series hasn't lived up to expectations because Covert Affairs is a lot like....Skipper trying to become Barbie Doll, you know? It's a crazy analogy but that's the closest way I can best describe the series. Covert Affairs is like Alias' little sister, who is trying to become like its big sister, but fails at it big time. It's fun to watch but I think it needs to find its identity.

And I couldn't care less if Ben Mercer lives or dies...because eventually? Annie's going to go back to doing lame assignments with the CIA and he will have to disappear again.

But you know what Ben Mercer should do? Move on to Rubicon. I think the actor playing him, Eion Bailey, would be a perfect fit for that kind of a series. As it is, I have stopped watching Rubicon because, as much as it should be an intellectual program, it's boooooooooring to death. James Badge Dale could not hold my interest. Something about him just doesn't read: deep and smart. But if they put Eion Bailey in there, then maybe I will watch again. I've seen Eion Bailey play the intellectual Harvard-type and he was very, very sexy as one. As a deflecting CIA agent on Covert Affairs though? Not so sexy!

Anyway... so that's what I've been watching today.

You?